Hiding in Plain Sight Unanalyzed Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases

Untested sexual assault evidence is being discovered in police evidence rooms all across the country. It is unknown how many unanalyzed sexual assault kits (SAKs) there are nationwide. There are many reasons for this, but one is that tracking and counting SAKs is an antiquated process in many U.S. jurisdictions. Certainly, there may be legitimate reasons why some of the recently discovered unanalyzed SAKs were not sent to a lab. Not all evidence collected in an alleged sexual assault is going to be probative. For example, in cases where consent is an issue, detectives may consider that the SAK does not add any important information to the investigation. This book analyzes this issue and offers a variety of ramifications for the police and crime laboratories, for the courts, and for the victims.